- 2 -
"Just let me get my homework from Pa's study." Joe dashed around the corner and Hop Sing shook his head. He knew how much the number three son loved it to occupy his father's desk.
In a swift movement, Joe shoved the magnifier in the drawer, picked up his papers and put them on the table in front of the fireplace, then he disappeared in the pantry to help Hop Sing.
Half an hour later, when the work was done, the two went back to the kitchen and saw smoke and flames rising from the tool shed. Hop Sing yelled something in Cantonese and Little Joe felt like being punched in the stomach. He knew he had failed to put out the fire properly.
"Take buckets!", yelled Hop Sing, took one bucket from the corner of the kitchen in each hand and rushed outside. Joe did the same, with his hands trembling. They ran to the water trough, quickly filled the buckets and threw the water onto the burning shed. Joe coughed heavily and his eyes filled with tears from the smoke but he worked as hard as he could to put out the flames. After ten minutes it was done and Hop Sing and Little Joe stared at a pile of smoking burnt beams of wood burying destroyed tools.
"How this could happen?" Hop Sing wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"I don't know... maybe some spark came from somewhere.", stammered Joe.
Hop Sing shook his head. "Mr. Cartwright not gonna like it."
"He sure won't.", mumbled Joe, frozen to the ground while staring at the charred remains.
"Let's wash up." Hop Sing turned and headed back to the house. Joe followed him, his mind racing what he was going to tell his family. Joe stormed up to his room and paced around trying to calm himself. Nobody had seen him, there was no reason that anyone would think he had something to do with it. He even had an alibi because he was with Hop Sing. His father would be upset for a day or two, then rebuild the tool shed and the whole thing would be forgotten. Joe had heard of inexplicable fires in the area. But what if his Pa was asking him directly if he had something to do with it? He would probably break down and tell it all. A sudden tiredness overcame him and he threw himself on his bed. Within minutes he fell asleep.
Ben, Adam and Hoss rode into the yard, chatting about the cattle auction, when Adam suddenly pulled the reins. "What happened here?" He pointed at the pile of burned wood in front of him.
Ben's eyes grew wide and Hoss' jaw dropped. They all dismounted and Ben gave the reins to Hoss. "Please take care of him, I'll get to the bottom of this." Ben stormed inside while Hoss took the horses to the barn and Adam kneeled down to scrutinize the remains of the tool shed.
"Hop Sing! Little Joe!" Ben stepped through the door and a second later, Hop Sing came around the corner.
"Big fire, Mr. Cartwright. But me and Little Joe work hard and put it out."
"What started it and where's Joe?"
"Little Joe asleep. Don't know what started it. We've been in pantry."
"Have you seen anyone?", Ben asked excitedly.
"No. Been busy all day."
"When did the fire start?"
Hop Sing stopped to think for a minute. "Around five o' clock".
Ben clenched his fists and breathed heavily. He had a hunch who was responsible but didn't have any proof so far.
"Supper ready in half an hour."
"Thank you, Hop Sing. And thank you also for saving the ranch from more damage."
Ben went outside and joined his sons in the barn. "Hop Sing can't tell how it started. I'll ask the hands tomorrow morning if they have seen anything. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Carl had something to do with it."
"Well, maybe... but whatever caused it, we were lucky it didn't spread any farther.", sighed Adam and Hoss nodded.
Little Joe slowly descended the stairs after Hop Sing had called him for supper when his family entered the house.
"Joe, are you alright?", asked Ben.
He startled. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"I heard about you and Hop Sing being the heroes of the day." Ben smiled.
"Oh... well, it was nothing.", Joe smiled forcedly.
"Not so modest, little brother. If you two hadn't stepped in, we might have lost the barn and three of our horses and maybe even the house.", said Adam.
Joe avoided eye-contact and headed for the dinner table. "How was the cattle auction?", he asked quickly to avoid more appraisal.
"We bought a fine steer. They'll deliver him next week."
Joe nodded and sat down.
"Little Joe, have you seen anyone wandering around the yard today or have you noticed anything suspicious?", asked Ben after everyone had settled down at the dinner table.
He stared at his food while shaking his head. "No, nothing. I was just helping Hop Sing with the preserves and suddenly the shed was on fire." Joe raised his head and looked at Ben.
Ben shook his head in disbelief before starting to eat. He was brewing on the inside that Carl might have threatened the health of his son and his cook and came close to destroying his property. However, he deliberately didn't tell Joe about his suspicion because he didn't want to frighten him. On top of that he needed proof.
The rest of the dinner conversation was about cattle and who to hire and slowly but surely Little Joe was able to relax. Nobody seemed to suspect him.
oooOOOooo
The next morning, Little Joe was already on his way to school, when Ben walked to the bunkhouse in order to question the hands about yesterday's event.
"Well, Mr. Cartwright. I ain't seen anyone here but when I was riding towards the upper pasture I saw someone on the road coming from the ranch house.", said Stuart, one of the wranglers.
Ben could guess who it was but he asked anyways.
"It was Carl."
"Are you absolutely sure and what time was it?"
"Yup, I noticed that black mare of his and his red shirt and grey west." He paused for a second. "Must've been around five."
"Would you come to town with me and tell that to the sheriff?"
"Sure would, Mr. Cartwright." Carl had given Stuart a black eye a few weeks ago, so he didn't mind telling on him.
oooOOOooo
Carl had a confused look on his face when the sheriff led him into his office. When he spotted Ben and Stuart sitting at Roy's desk, his face turned grim.
"What'd you want from me? Is not worshipping the ground that Mr. Cartmighty is
walking on a crime now?!", he shouted.
Roy pointed at a chair. "Sit down, Mr. Reed. Mr. Cartwright claims that you are responsible for a fire on his ranch and Mr. Stuart is a witness that you were coming from the Ponderosa around the time the fire started."
Carl didn't sit down. "You're kidding! What crazy scheme is this here? I never burnt down nothing! I remembered that I had two bottles of scotch hidden in the bunk house that I forgot about when I was fired! So, I picked them up yesterday." He glared at Ben.
"Please calm down, Mr. Reed, and sit down. We'll try to get to the bottom of this."
Carl took a deep breath and did as he was told.
"Is it true that you threatened Mr. Cartwright?", asked Roy calmly.
"No! I was mad, that's all!"
"Did you tell Mr. Cartwright that he would regret firing you?", asked Roy in a louder voice.
"I don't remember."
Roy nodded. "So, you don't deny threatining Mr. Cartwright, you were seen coming from the Ponderosa at the time of the fire, you had a reason to take revenge because you had lost your job. And the only other people on the property were the Cartwright's cook and his youngest son, and they were working in the kitchen at the time of the fire. That leaves you as the main suspect, Mr. Reed."
Carl was brewing inside. "Why not some other hand that was tired of getting ordered around?"
"All hands were out with the herd. Mr. Reed, you are accused of having started a fire that could have destroyed an entire home and might have caused bodily harm. Since you don't have a job at the moment and you have no family around these parts, you have to stay in my jail until the judge comes to Virginia City."
Carl jumped up, which caused Roy to pull his gun. "Mr. Reed, settle down. A judge will decide about your case and until then you'll stay here. Now, let's go." Roy pointed at the cells with his gun and Carl complied, but not without shooting Ben and Stuart a look liable to turn water into ice.
"When do you think the judge will be here?", asked Ben when Roy came back from locking up Carl.
"I'll send a wire right away. But it still might take two or three weeks."
"Alright. Just let us know so that we can testify. Thank you, Roy."
All the best for 2024!